Marvin X

Marvin X, also known as Marvin Jackmon and El Muhajirwas born May
29, 1944 in Fowler, California, near Fresno. Marvin X is well known for his work
as a poet, playwright and essayist of the
BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT or BAM. He
attended Merritt College along with Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. He received
his BA and MA in English from San Francisco State University.

Marvin X is most well known for his work with Ed Bullins in the founding of
Black House and The Black Arts/West Theatre in San Francisco. Black House served
briefly as the headquarters for the Black Panther Party and as a center for
performance, theatre, poetry and music.

Marvin X is a playwright in the true spirit of the BAM. His most well-known
BAM play, entitled Flowers for the Trashman, deals with generational
difficulties and the crisis of the Black intellectual as he deals with education
in a white-controlled culture. Marvin X's other works include, The Black Bird,
The Trial, Resurrection of the Dead and In the Name of Love.

He currently has the longest running African American drama in the San
Francisco Bay area and Northern California, ONE DAY IN THE LIFE, a tragi-comedy
of addiction and recovery. He is the founder and director of RECOVERY THEATRE.

Marvin X has continued to work as a lecturer, teacher and producer. He has
taught at Fresno State University; San Francisco State University; University of
California - Berkeley and San Diego; University of Nevada, Reno; Mills College,
Laney and Merritt Colleges in Oakland. He has received writing fellowships from
Columbia University and the National Endowment for the Arts and planning grants
from the National Endowment for the Humanities.